Thursday, September 12, 2019

Our team captured images of Patriots Day in the aftermath of the attack on the Pentagon, as President Trump noted how #WeWillNeverForget" and as Iranians came out in strong support of the United States in the aftermath of that horrible day.

We also have been assessing the status of the Israeli Election as Election Day Nears--especially as we saw reports of spying by Israel which was denied by the Israeli Government and by the current Israeli Prime Minister. We have also been assessing the on-going situation in Iran in the aftermath of the death of the #BlueGirl that we had the pleasure to honor for the sacrifice she made for Freedom and Democracy in Iran:

As we also went to press, we have also been assessing the on-going situation in Russia in the aftermath of the local elections in Russia as Russia's ruling party suffered major defeats. Russian security forces carried out raids across Russia seizing assets from the offices of the key opposition leader Alexi Navalany.

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

On this eve of the 18th Anniversary of 9/11, we present this courtesy of 9/11Day.Org along with our local non profit, OneOC on opportunities to make a difference. This will be featured on all our properties on 9/11/2019 as we go dark thru Thursday to remember. We salute all who fell on that day and all who took the fight to those who caused such havoc and all who are fighting today:

Get together with your family and friends to volunteer with our local nonprofit partners through county-wide service projects and toolkits that support our troops, veterans and disaster preparedness, benefiting all of our American heroes.

Service projects take place THIS WEEK Wednesday, Sept. 11 thru Sunday, Sept. 15th.

Monday, September 9, 2019

We begin this edition of Notations on a somber note: The US Secretary of State paying his respects to a fallen soldier who died as a result of the Taliban attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. US President Donald Trump noted that he abruptly cancelled a meeting with Taliban Leaders and the President of Afghanistan to try and achieve peace as a result. The Taliban condemned the move and warned of even higher US Casualties. President Trump's Twitter feed on this on Sunday was in our view quite a read:

What was also known as #Sharpiegate also was the talk of the Social Media Circuit which entailed the President noting that Alabama was due to be hit and noted a sharpie--and then Administration Officials came out to basically take the fall for President Trump--and President Trump continued his attacks on the Media. What was also of note was how NOAA staff was warned early in the month not to go against the President. A sampling of the discourse over Social Media was telling--even Fox News:

There is the issue of the Border Wall--The President released a Clip to his Twitter feed underscoring that the wall is being built although the Pentagon has cancelled contracts including a Middle School at Ft Campbell, Kentucky and a State of the Art Science Building at the US Military Academy. There is also the controversy over the routing of US Air Force Flights to help prop up Trump Properties--although someone said the contract was signed in 2016. This Tweet on the State of Wall Funding was telling:

Across the Pond in the UK, there is the continued drama over Brexit that our team noted in its' weekly notation last week. The latest bombshell was the dramatic resignation by Amber Rudd both from the Government and the Conservatives that has effectively made the current Government int he UK a minority Government as one of the senior ministers, Sajid Javid, countered what Amber Rudd noted and as Boris Johnson is trying to prop up a Government that is on the brink of collapse:

We could not help but choose those courtesy of the Economist' @Kaltoons that captured how the British Lion Feels right now:

We also have been following reports from Iran on harsh sentences handed down to Civic Activists. Our team is assessing it--in our Education Property, we have released a special edition courtesy of Iran Human Rights as we will be assessing the state of affairs this week. As our team is assessing on-going developments, there is Israel--it has elections in nine days and the headlines from Haaretz was telling:

Breaking news from your Nuzzel feed:

President Trump ended August as he began it, with a blast of angry tweets, ad-hominem insults, and bizarre fulminations that have become so standard that they no longer receive the attention they deserve—emanating, as they do, from the…

Walmart announced Tuesday it will end the sale of handgun ammunition, a decision that comes as the retail giant faced pressure to curb gun and ammunition sales in the wake of a shooting at its store in El Paso, Texas.

In an open letter to Walmart associates, CEO Doug McMillon said that the store plans to discontinue sales of short-barrel rifle ammunition and no longer sell handgun ammunition. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer will also no longer sell handguns at its stores in Alaska, marking a complete exit from the handgun market.